24 March, 2016

Hello! Welcome back to our blog and to the March Mini Challenge! We really hope you've been enjoying the challenges so far.

Here is our new challenge board for March:

Here's how the Mini Challenge works:

The Mini Challengeruns on the last week of each month and is for

cards, tags and ATCs only. (ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards, are small works of art, about 2.5 by 3.5 inches or 64 x 89mm).This challenge requires you to use a specific word on your project. We must see the actual word. You have only one week - until the last day of the month - to enter, so be quick!

Yes, we are very happy to introduce to you today the extremely talented

Gayle Price!

"Hello MTW friends! My name is Gayle Price and I am so happy and very honoured to be invited to share one of my projects with you this month. I love playing, experimenting and creating with combined media. My idea of "bliss" is to surround myself with as many different mediums as I can lay my hands on, start to play with them and see where they lead me. I love all forms of art. I love colour, pattern and texture and will try to incorporate all of these elements into my work. I have had amazing opportunities in the past to create with some really wonderful Design Teams, and have had work published in a book called Art Journal Kickstarter. I am currently a Creative Team member with Finnabair. It is a real honour to have my blog name as the inspiration for this month's Main Challenge board. Something you may not know about my blog name (a little bit of trivia)... aside from the obvious meanings of the words "bliss" and "gesso", I chose the name because of my love for Hip Hop music and in particular, an Australian band called "Bliss n Esso"."

We urge you to go see more of Gayle's creations as they are absolutely amazing!

Let's take a look at this month's challenge followed by Gayle's interpretation.

Gayle shares this about her outstanding creative process:

"My page is about my BLISS... I love to create and it makes me happy to play with different art mediums. This page is representing how I feel that my brain is sometimes wired to just one activity, all else forgotten, while the screws and nuts and bolts in my head work blissfully to create. I've worked with pattern, texture and colour using lots of different art mediums. The one medium I always use is GESSO. I have used white, black and clear gesso on this project. Apart from being a primer and a protector of surfaces, gesso is also great for shading and for softening edges."

Gayle has provided us with some close-ups of her masterpiece:

There are no words to fully describe the beauty of this piece, but we do think that BLISS is quite accurate! As artists, we all have this one form of happiness in common, and we can all relate to Gayle's state of mind when she creates, as described above.

There are so many unique and awesome details to admire in Gayle's work...

We were captivated by Aisha's amazing glow-in-the-dark canvas that she created for her niece. The fairy dust on the wings and in the lantern was a stroke of genius! Not only does it SPARKLE but it glows!! We found it truly WONDERFUL and we thought it worthy of a special mention!

We encourage our merit winners, honourable mentions as well as participants who have had your project featured on our Facebook page to grab your badge from our left sidebar and proudly display it on your blog! They were made just for you!

01 March, 2016

Our Main Challenge is based on a Word Inspiration & a Creative Challenge.

This challenge is open to layouts, canvases and art journal pages only.

Word Inspiration - BLISS

Creative Challenge - GESSO

What does the word BLISS inspire you to create?

You can choose to use the word somewhere on your project or to simply be inspired by it. Please explain in your blog post how the word inspired you
if it's not already obvious.

For our creative challenge this month, we want you to use GESSO on your project.

Chances are you have a bottle of gesso on your craft table, ready to be dipped into when it's crafty time! Be it white, clear, black or any other colour, light or thick, smooth or textured, we want to see you incorporate it in your creative process. Try it on your background, chipboard, embellishments or however you desire! If you don't have any ready-made gesso, you can even make your own!

(Google 'handmade gesso recipe' and you will find numerous alternatives!)

It's 'prime' time to get crafty!!

VERY IMPORTANT!!! You have to incorporate both parts of the challenge, the word inspiration & the creative challenge, on your project to be eligible to win. When we vote, we specifically look for projects that display BOTH requirements, and not just the creative challenge. Just look at our DT members' interpretation as example.

Remember that you must include our board image
and a link to our blog in your entry post.

Mona: "When I'm painting, life is bliss! I was inspired to create a 'Finnabair' type canvas featuring an upcycled paintbrush reflecting my passion along with a metal plate tag reading BLISS as the title. The entire canvas was covered with black GESSO as the base coat, then white gesso was applied at the end for a highlight."

Di: "The word BLISS inspired me to scrap this gorgeous pic of my new grandson. I have also used GESSO to both seal my background as well as using it to stick down lots of laces and chipboard, etc. I also coated my title with gesso to tone down the colour as well as the little angel wings. I have also dabbed it on lots of other elements on my page to achieve a very soft look."

Valerie: "BLISS reminds me of the happiness that I live every day with my little family. GESSO is the first thing that I use on my pages. Clear or white, it's essential! On this layout, I used white gesso in small quantity to seal the pattern paper. I added some drops with a mixture of gesso and water."

Pamela: "When I hear the word BLISS, this photo automatically pops into my head. There is no other place on earth where I feel more at peace and happy than by the water. I used GESSO to prime my background and soften the page a bit. I also used it to prime all my chipboard pieces."

Julia: "This photo inspired me to create this project. These are my husband's parents during their young courtship years. They seem so BLISS and adorable on this picture. I made the canvas myself by gluing fabric to thick cardstock and covering it with GESSO."

Nicole: "The word BLISS immediately made me think of these pictures of my nieces who had the time of their lives at Walt Disney World a few years back. They are seen happily riding the Magical Kingdom carousel. I used white GESSO with a stencil to create some swirly textures on the background. I also covered my chipboard carousel horse with a thick coat of gesso, used my heatgun to make it bubble and crackle, before covering it with gold paint and glitter. Gesso was also dabbed on all embellishments and paper edges to give the layout my usual whitewash touch."

Arantzazu: "When I rediscovered this picture, I just knew I had to use it for this challenge. It is of my dear dog Koki enjoying his first day at the beach. The word BLISS is not just for that day. My 'little brother' Koki makes me one of the happiest people because I have him by my side every day. I used GESSO on the background and to create those white splashes."

Valia: "My little boy is the epitomy of joy, laughter and mischief, always on the run and always happy. He really made a difference in our lives, bringing us so much joy and BLISS! I have used GESSO everywhere on my layout, clear gesso to protect my paper, white gesso to make random patterns on my paper and black

Heather: "My most recent blissful event was a fabulous Summer beach holiday. I really was tremendously happy enjoying the sun and surf and sharing them with family and friends. It was sheer BLISS! I used GESSO under my photo and on cardstock as a base for my watercolour work. It also helped separate the photo from the busy background paper."

Lilibleu: "I love this picture of my son taken after a long day dream at Disney Land Paris. Though asleep, he opens his eyes right when I take the photo. It shows perfectly the feeling of well-being, the feeling of BLISS, of my laddie at this moment! I used white GESSO on my page background, on flowers and as droplets, and black gesso on the gears and as droplets."

Kareen: "The word BLISS inspired me one quote which fits perfectly with the picture I've used. It's me, hiking the Vesuve, in Italy! As you can see, I've put GESSO everywhere! The papers, the flowers, the chipboard... everything has gesso on it. It was easy because I love doing mixed media layouts, but sometimes I am too lazy to start and clean after. This challenge was a great incentive!"

Helen: "The word BLISS inspired me to create this project because I think that there are some special places that make us feel serenity and bliss. I used a lot of white GESSO on my background and added some more
to highlight the details of my canvas."

We hope that you are inspired by all these beautiful creations from our DT!

"Colour Blast is an Australian based manufacturing company that produces a range of mixed media products for the paper craft industry. Our products have been developed with lots of colour and shimmer in mind - because we believe that is what all paper crafters love! Our products are sold wholesale to scrapbooking and paper craft shops throughout Australia and New Zealand."

Each month, we hand pick a winner from all participants who have not made it to our TOP 5, but who has captured our attention someway, somehow. We might pick a project due to its original use of a certain product, the cleverest title, most beautiful photo, etc. Who knows what we will be looking for?